North Carolina News Station Warns about Counterfeit Prescription Drugs for Sale Online

May 9, 2017

A Greensboro, North Carolina news station,WFMY News2, is warning viewers that the Internet is filled with fake online pharmacies that sell counterfeit drugs. In the television segment accompanying the story, WFMY shared surveillance images of a suspected drop-shipper posting up to 80 packages of counterfeit medications a day.

The U.S. Postal Inspector WFMY spoke to described the state of the medication being shipped, “They were receiving packages with pills in them that were in ziploc bags, they weren’t marked with what they were, they had no instructions with them.” In the accompanying video, he also demonstrates clearly that the medication packages had no instructions, did not list side-effects, nor warnings of any kind. Many were shipped in plain plastic bags.

A search warrant executed at the drop-shipper’s home turned up numerous pills, credit card numbers, and a variety of passports.

The WFMY report points out that genuine online pharmacies require valid prescriptions, but according to the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), 89% of illegal online pharmacies do not require a prescription. Failure to require a prescription is, in their words, “a big red flag.”

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